


Saudade

by blubu



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, LET THESE BUGS BE HAPPY DAMNIT, i will go down w/ them, knights wants a mom, lady wants to be a mom, mom and child bonding time, will i ever make serious tags? lmao no
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-09 01:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17397512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blubu/pseuds/blubu
Summary: The White Lady longs for something that could have been.





	Saudade

**Author's Note:**

> imma be real w/ u all i wrote almost all of this a few days ago when i was tired as hell and in a mode of 'panic but cant sleep' bc i had school in like 3 hours

The White Lady was alone. As always. She had long grown accustomed to the glaring silence that greeted her each waking day, and she no longer felt that loneliness she was sure she would only feel imprisoning herself here.

However now that was a silly thought in her aging mind--she was alone in a sense, yet she could feel the presence of those that traversed her serene gardens. She could feel the passings of the many traitors that littered the greenery she had surrounded herself in, and thought back to Dryya--her lovely knight who had been fighting for oh so long. She wondered how she was fairing; surely she must be tired from her battles? She wished the knight would come inside and rest for a bit. Alas, she didn’t, and that was that.

The White Lady wondered how her darling Wyrm was fairing as well. Entrapped here in her own constraints even she could not feel the presence of her precious love. The infection waged on--that, she could sense quite clearly.

And the fail of the Vessel. The Hollow Knight. Her spawn.

Her desire to spread her seeds and continue to breed is what brought her here now. Here, locked forever in her retreat, with only the protection her fierce knight granted her. And even then, how long until Dryya caved? She dared not think of such an ending. An ending for her knight, for the Lady had long since lost value in her own life. Not that she wished to die, far from it--however if she was cursed down upon at this very moment, she would find no reason to complain.

Her spawn grew weaker by the day. Not only the Hollow Knight, but the other failed Vessels that had managed to free themselves from their damnation, only flickered like echoes and threatened to fade out at any time. Except one.

The small Vessel who had managed to obtain both halves of the pale charm gifted to it. Oh, what perils it must have faced to achieve such great heights! She dared not think of the horrors still lurking just outside her fallen Kingdom.

The White Lady had accepted her faint affection for the creatures she participated in creating--however she knew early on she would never be able to act upon such feelings. She was convinced she would taint them. She had told the small creature to take its sibling’s place, but was it the right decision? It had not come back to visit her in quite a while, so she could only assume it had followed her request. And yet she wished it didn’t.

She pondered such maternal feelings alone, until hearing the soft patter of feet making its way into her prison. She slowly opened her hazy, nearly blind eyes, and focused on the small Vessel. Ah, speak of the Devil.

She could feel her connection to her spawn, that same Root beating inside it as well. She wondered, if it was granted the ability, would it to have those same yearnings her nature forced upon her?

“It returns,” Her voice croaked, long since faded almost as with her sight by the years passed. “Though I have nothing left to give it,” She attempted turning her head to where she could sense the Vessel most prominently, “you return.”

The Vessel said nothing for it couldn’t say a thing--cursed by its own birth and the circumstances that came with it. She had nothing left to say and simply closed her eyes once more, expecting the child to leave.

Alas. it didn’t.

The Vessel stayed rooted to the spot almost as stuck as her. In her confusion she believed maybe it had left--however she still felt the presence of a creature unmistakably her spawn there, almost like the subjects she had long since left behind basking in her glory. The Lady cracked her eyes open once again.

“It stays,” She muttered, “why? There is nothing left for me to say, and there is nothing left to give it. Hallownest is in its hands. Do not dally.”

Yet the Vessel stayed. Why? She asked herself that question a few times over, and gained not a single answer. Her spawn simply stayed.

From what she knew, Vessels ran off the pure energy of Void itself--never requiring food or even sleep. So what was it doing here, not moving, not heeding her questions?

She did enjoy the company, she admitted to herself. Here, alone, only with her child. She released tension she didn’t even realize she had been holding.

The Vessel seemed to almost perk up at that, slowly sliding itself to lean against her legs. She barely suppressed a sound of surprise at this.

“Hm?” She hummed into the air, knowing she would not receive an answer and not caring even then. She could feel the small head turning to gaze up at her.

The Lady could feel something emitting from the child, though what, she found herself unable to understand. She blinked at the creature she could not see.

The Vessel steadily stood to its feet. It placed its weapon down, the Lady could hear, and turned back to its mother. It stared at her and she stared back, milky white eyes clashing with pitch black ones--as all Vessels had. The child then began slowly climbing up her legs--to her surprise--before settling its small body in her lap. Her confusion melted away.

“I understand,” She croaked, a single thin root hanging down to brush the child’s small head. It curled further into her. “My assumptions were incorrect.” Her voice echoed into the empty air, eyes closing shut. “You are not empty at all, are you?”

The child could not answer and it didn’t need to; she could feel the confirmation radiating from its small frame. And that's all she needed--that wave only a  _mind_ could emit. She felt the child’s happiness as she felt her own.

“Then you are free to stay with me all you like, my child,” She whispered, that loneliness she had tried so hard to keep out for so long and tried to convince herself she she didn't harbor finally melting away along with the Vessel’s.

**Author's Note:**

> sometimes i like using pretty words from other languages to title stuff


End file.
